Membership Selection

Membership

The Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development strives to select members who have strong legal writing and analytical skills and are committed to furthering the mission of the Journal, to educate the public about issues of racial, social and economic justice. To that end, students interested in joining the Journal must participate in an annual Writing Competition. Based on a student’s performance on the Writing Competition, the Journal may extend an invitation to become a journal Staff Member to students matriculating in the Day or Night Sections who have completed the full first-year curriculum, expect to attend St. John’s for at least two more academic years, and have not previously applied to the Journal. In addition, eligible students must have a minimum GPA of 3.3 or better. In the alternative, a student who has performed exceptionally well on the writing competition and is in the top 50% of the class is eligible for journal membership, but such selection is contingent on the number of people who apply to the Journal in a given year, the number of new staff members the Journal seeks to make offers to, and the quality of papers submitted.

Staff Members Responsibilities

The majority of the staff members’ time will be spent editing the articles submitted by outside authors and students. The various assignments given to staff members require source checks and cite checks, and exceptional attention to detail. The specifics of these assignments are discussed below.

Each staff member is required to sign up for one (1) office hour per week. During this time, the staff member is expected to work on “office hours assignments.” When there are no office hours assignments, the staff member must still remain in the office and answer the phone, organize the office, collect the mail or assist any editors with assignments or projects on which they may be working. If there are no projects to complete, the staff member may work on whatever he or she chooses in the Journal office. In addition, staff members are required to attend all Journal related events including but not limited to, the Best Notes and Comments Ceremony and Journal Symposia, as well as two events hosted by other student-run organizations or the law school.